“Cowboy Country” -so named in honor of its rich legends, lore and customs of the Old West-, is closely tied to its early ranching enterprise. With ethnic backgrounds as varied as Finland, Italy, Germany, England and Denmark, the first pioneers and settlers secured land and water rights in Northern Nevada's valleys to engage in ranching and farming. While some ranches have changed hands over the years, others are still owned and operated by descendants of the early settlers, helping to carry on the cowboy way of life. They gather hundreds of cattle on horseback, rope calves and conduct brandings. Rain, snow or shine, fences need to be fixed, strays collected and livestock demands to be fed and watered. Often romanticized, the cowboy way of life is a tough labor of love, requiring a lot of pride and devotion to survive.
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Historically significant - we love our ghost towns
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Imagine the exhilaration, screams of euphoria and delirious dreams of great wealth, when an early prospector stumbled upon a ledge glistening with gold or silver. Word of rich ore findings would spread rapidly drawing hundreds of avid prospectors all hoping to strike it rich. Envision the commotion, the hustle and bustle when mining camps, often barely more than a spread of tents, would set up literally overnight. Once considered a prospector’s paradise, the exploration of the mineral-rich mountain ranges linked Cowboy Country’s history closely to the mining enterprise. In the mid 1800’s, shortly after the legendary Comstock Lode was discovered north-east of Carson City, the Humboldt Region experienced a massive boom.Mining camps sprung up everywhere and some evolved into substantial towns. StarCity, Dun Glen, Unionville, Rochester, Rye Patch and Humboldt once boasted a multitude of merchandise stores, restaurants, saloons, school houses and other. Exhaustion of high grade ore, milling difficulties and inadequate transportation facilities forced many mines and mills to eventually shut down, consequently leading to the abandonment of towns. At the dawn of the 20th century, when most mining towns in the HumboldtMountains were already heavily neglected, PershingCounty experienced another great boom in mining excitement. After several prospectors reported findings of rich gold and silver ore in the SevenTroughsRange the towns of Vernon, Seven Troughs, Mazuma and later Tunnels Camp, quickly developed. Today, only few structures of any of these once bustling cities remain, but when venturing to these ghost towns, you’re likely to find yourself in complete solitude and silence. Except, perhaps, for the whistling of the wind funneling through one of the ruins, the lazy trickle of an ancient creek or the lonesome howl of a coyote. And as you reflect upon our forefathers and the hardships they were willing to endure for the chance to strike it rich, you may be able to visualize a once bustling city where you would find the saloons full of rugged men playing poker and drinking whisky. A city in motion with women strolling down Main Street in their rustling long dresses, while mule trains packed in heavy loads of supplies for the mills that relentlessly pounded away at promising ores. These ghost towns of the West were cities full of life, dreams and passing wealth. Born into an unforgiving era of boom and bust, they slowly perished into dust...
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How would you like to go out into the Northern Nevada’s ancient mountain ranges and search gems or fossils? Imagine yourself finding a fossilized seashell from some 200 million years ago, when the Great Basin was still part of an ocean, or harvesting petrified wood from forests that graced the area some 15 million years ago? You could be excavating your own precious opals, pan for gold or hunt with the help of a metal detector for coins, bullets or precious metals. People from all over the world visit Cowboy Country to take advantage of the abundance of minerals, precious rocks and gemstones the region harbors. Gold and silver, Rhyolite, Precious and Common Opal, Petrified Wood, Agate, Apache Tears, Opalite and Quartz are only a few of the minerals you may find. You are free to grab a hammer, pick and shovel and roam the open range to harvest these treasures, provided that you abide by a few rules. Once you’re successful and find an unclaimed area on public lands which cradles the treasures you seek, you can even apply for your own mining claim to that area. For further information on collecting on Public Lands contact the BLM office at (775) 623 1500. |
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